Historical Consultants in the CEE Video Game Industry: Part 2: Competence Building

Historical consultancy in the video game industry has emerged as a practice without a formal training pathway, and this study examines how professionals in Central and Eastern Europe believe such consultants should be prepared. Drawing on an online survey of 16 respondents, including six consultants, seven developers, and three who have worked in both roles, the research identifies a field that has grown alongside historical game studies but remains largely without dedicated education. The authors note that the University of Gdańsk's 2024 historical game design program may be among the first to offer such training, positioning it as a timely response to a clear gap.

Respondents describe a broad and varied set of expectations for the consultant's role, ranging from an external researcher who verifies facts to an embedded team member working directly within game engines and production software. Core competencies cited include source evaluation through tools such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, and Zotero, collaboration through platforms like Slack, Discord, Jira, and Miro, and working familiarity with Unity and Unreal for previewing content. English fluency and a grounding in game design are widely regarded as essential. Importantly, the findings suggest that no single consultant is expected to master every area; instead, the most consistent advice is to learn to "speak game," bridging the communication divide between historians and developers.

That divide is the study's central concern. Practitioners argue that consultants must understand development workflows and documentation and must be willing to trade strict historical accuracy for playability when the two conflict. The recommended curriculum accordingly emphasizes hands-on, project-based game design training, case studies of historical games, and the combined skills of research, source evaluation, and collaboration. The authors propose a three-part model: foundational historical scholarship, practical game development including team-based projects, and applied consulting tasks such as adapting historical materials, reviewing team content, and fact-checking. A detailed syllabus for Polish universities has been developed on this basis.